Family life in Slovakia

According to a recent survey, 93% of Slovak inhabitants think that children are happy only when the both of parents live with them in the same house.

Family is a very important thing for Slovaks in their lives. Maybe the most important thing in their lives. In the middle of the 20th century a family originated when people got married. In that time divorce was not common. The most important objective for a family was to have and raise children. But there were changes at the end of the 20th century. Fewer and fewer people got married and divorce was more common.

For a long time 25% of all households have been families without children. In 1961, there were about 100 000 single-parent families in Slovakia – families with at least one parent and at least one child. In 2001 there were about 250 000 single-parent families.

Nowadays 20% of all households are households with one member – students, old people but also widows and widowers. This number will be higher in the future, because young people get married later and some young people never want to get married. Nowadays the most numerous households in Slovakia have 2 members – about 25% of all households.

Households with 4 members is the second biggest group. Mostly it is 2 parents and 2 children. But nowadays also families with one child or without a child are common. Also the number of family members who live altogether is lower. In Slovakia only 1% live in a house or in a flat with more than 4 members. When there are more than 4 people living in a house or in a flat, it is usually 2 families who live altogether because they have not got enough money for buying their own house or their own flat.

From all the households the most numerous are the households with families. There are more complete families than single-parent families and from the complete families there are more families with a child than families without a child. At the year 2006 there were 2 091 592 households. There were 521 682 complete families with a child, 521 628 complete families without a child, 138 322 single-parent families with a child, 104 485 single parent families without a child, 35 071 households without families and 635 583 households with one member.

Children mostly start living alone when they start studying in a different city than where they lived. When they study in the different city they live with their relatives, with their friends or they live all alone. Nowadays young people usually go to study and work to foreign countries. They usually get married there and they stay to live there. Young people usually move to the USA or Great Britain, but countries where people go on vacation and work as waiters or delegates are also popular.

The average age for getting married is 30 for women and 31 for men. The average age for having a child is now 31. Nowadays more people live in cities than in the countryside. The number of families who live in a flat and the number of families who live in a family house is similar. Almost each family who lives in a family house has a dog, or a dog and a cat together. In a flat, people mostly have hamsters, fish, birds, tortoises and turtles. In a flat, some people have a dog or a cat. In Slovakia exotic animals like spiders, snakes, iguanas and chameleons are becoming popular.

Most families have got one or two cars, at least one television and a computer. Each family member, who has more than 6 years usually have a mobile phone. Grandparents rarely live in the same house as their children and grandchildren. They usually live in their own houses or in old people’s homes.